Los Angeles Clippers point guard Baron Davis will visit a specialist Monday to examine his injured left ring finger. One possible recommendation could be surgery that would sideline Davis for four to six weeks, an NBA source said.

Davis injured the finger in practice Friday. The initial diagnosis was a sprained ligament; X-rays revealed there was not a broken bone. However, there is a possibility that there could be a ruptured tendon in the finger, which would require surgical repair. If surgery is not necessary, it still could take up to three weeks for Davis to recuperate and return to action.

"It doesn't feel good," Davis said, according to the Los Angeles Times. "It's not comfortable, not a comfortable feeling. ... The good thing is that it is the preseason, so you can deal with all your bumps and bruises early."

The Clippers open the regular season on Oct. 29 against the Lakers. A three-week absence would keep Davis out of action for the first six games.

Lisa Dillman reported on the story in Saturday's LAT. Meanwhile, in the frontcourt...

The wait to see the Clippers' Marcus Camby -- in a real-time game, that is -- will apparently be longer than previously expected.

Camby, plagued by a bruised right heel, on Sunday effectively ruled himself out for the remainder of the exhibition season. He was speaking at Staples Center after the Clippers defeated FC Barcelona, 114-109, their fourth victory in five exhibition games.

Clearly, Davis is the more valuable player. But, in some sense, Camby's absence presents more of a challenge for the Clippers -- in that the depth chart at PG is pretty cut-and-dry. Hart will start in Baron's place, and Taylor will log more minutes as sole backup.

But the hole Camby leaves up front if he were to be out for an extended period of time is far more daunting. Tim Thomas would be the obvious insert for Camby in the Clippers' starting lineup...except that he's suffering from a groin strain. That would leave the Clippers with a couple of possible options. [1] They could slide Al Thornton back to the 4, where he played out of position for much of last season. Dunleavy could then put Ricky Davis at the 3. This would actually be the most potent offensive option for the Clippers up front, but they'd be sacrificing a lot of size and -- let's face it -- wherewithal defensively. Davis isn't a bad ball defender in isolation, but he's an unrepentant space cadet on team defense. [2] If this bothered Dunleavy, he could go with Cuttino Mobley and Eric Gordon at the wings. That's not a horrible short-term option against smaller teams because Mobley does solid work defensively against opposing SFs. But Cat is starting to appear creaky, and playing him at the 3 should be regarded merely as a stopgap measure. [3] Dunleavy could play either Paul Davis or Brian Skinner up front. This wouldn't be a terrible option -- provided Baron Davis were healthy. But given what the Clips are already giving up offensively with Baron out, it's an impossibility. Fielding a Hart-Mobley-R.Davis-P.Davis-Kaman lineup would be disastrous. So the combined absence of Baron Davis-Marcus Camby will force Dunleavy to go with either option [1] or [2], which means the Clippers will forfeit one of their notable strengths -- size up front. The result could be very ugly on both ends.

Posted Wednesday, October 29 at 3:20PM

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Comments

I've always been very optimistic and I still am. I even bet 6 Ruths Kris steaks that the Clippers were making the playoffs. However, behind the optimism there is always that nagging concern, "will Clipper Time strike us again?"

The preseason showed a lot of promise, however there were concerns many of us pointed out, but were afraid to fully admit.

Camby has missed all the games due to his heel.
Baron Davis played one game and is now out 4-6 weeks due to potentially rupturing the tendon in his finger.
Kaman 2.0 has yet to give an appearance.

The season hasn't even begun and we are already injury plagued.

Let's hope this season doesn't become like those past. High hopes, only to be let down due to the curse.

It is crucial that we win a good amount of the first six games in order to pick up steam. Our team consists of a lot of strong characters and when things start going south, troublemaking tendencies begin.

The feel-good Kool-Aide is necessary because people are happy when winning.

Already our team has been hampered with injuries and the season hasn’t begun yet. Yikes

The injuries are pretty disheartening, actually. I went to the Lakers shootout yesterday and watched the Clippers B team pull out the victory over Barcelona.

A few observations:
*Eric Gordon is a beast on offense when given the chance.
*Mike Taylor should surpass Hart as the backup by the end of the season.
*Paul Davis and Jelani McCoy are borderline NBA players.
*Al Thornton will be great again.
*DeAndre Jordan will make the highlight reel every night he's given minutes.
*Cat Mobley has a HOT girlfriend.

I think it's great that our young guys are getting the chance to show what they can do in close games down the stretch. I count 3 close games that the rooks have pulled off this preseason. Take it for what it is, but Gordon has come up BIG in 4th quarters and Taylor has run the show almost flawlessly.

I think Hart is minimally exceptional. It pains me to watch him eat minutes ala Rick Brunson/Doug Overton etc. He's not BAD, but he just doesnt do much to help you win.

Between running back and forth to the Fox Sportsbar to catch the Rays/BoSox, I got to see the Lakers play as well. I was almost jealous that their fans got to see their full squad out there and gelling (save "the machine"). I mean it was mid 3rd quarter and they had everyone out there as if it were game 7.

Worst case scenario is BD is out the first 6 games... it's not like we expected him to play 82, right? Everyone else have nagging injuries and my guess it that it's not worth risking regular season games for the sake of intangible chemistry.

Dunleavey was as uptight as ever yesterday. Cursing and screaming at the refs and his players for missed assignments. Watching him is much more exciting than watching Phil Jackson...for whatever that's worth.

HORRIBLE news if Baron is indeed out for 4 to 6 weeks because of surgery. That kills our playoff chances right out of the gate because our schedule is so tough early on. We can't get into a hole and then play catchup the rest of the season.

is there anyway he can avoid surgery like kobe, kobe was suppose to have surgery last season and still hasnt had it, we need baron badly i think he should go to the option of not having surgery if possible.....can we please get some good karma

Lets also fire the person that dresses Dunleavy.Yesterday at the Barcelona game He was wearing a creme or light yellow sport coat / jacket that looked like it belonged to pops from the Wayans bros.

If the Clips have to go with out BD and MC , we know that they can play pretty well with out them. I suspect that Baron will be ready to play when the season starts. Lets not get all down just yet. Not until there is concrete word from the Clippers that he will miss time.